Bloomberg Center for Cities

Student Study Group: AI and the Future of Entrepreneurial Opportunity: Implications for Cities and Regions

An event of the Good Services Lab at the Bloomberg Center for Cities

REGISTER FOR IN-PERSON SEAT

Natalie Cofield


4:30-6:00 p.m. EST
Bloomberg Center for Cities, Taubman Third Floor, Harvard Kennedy School

About the Event

For enrolled Harvard graduate students.

How will artificial intelligence reshape entrepreneurial opportunity across cities and regions? As AI becomes embedded in financial systems, marketing platforms, payroll, procurement, and public services, local governments face a defining question: will it expand opportunity, contract segments of the small business economy, or fundamentally reconfigure regional markets?

Led by Natalie Cofield, a fellow at the Good Services Lab at the Bloomberg Center for Cities, this study group will examine AI not as a tool, but as a structural economic force influencing labor demand, firm competitiveness, and entrepreneurial access across interconnected local and regional economies.

Each session will combine structured framing, featured guest insights for select sessions, and facilitated discussion. Each session will combine structured framing, guest insight, and facilitated discussion.

Please note by registering, you are committing to attending all three of the below sessions.

All sessions will take place from 4:00 to 6:30 p.m. Registration is required as space is limited. Light refreshments will be provided.

Sessions:

  • Wednesday, September 23 at 4:30 p.m.
  • Wednesday, October 6 at 4:30 p.m.
  • Wednesday, November 3 at 4:30 p.m.

 

We welcome individuals with accessibility needs to participate in our events. Contact us at events@cities.harvard.edu to request accommodations or if you have questions.

 

Host

Natalie Cofield

Natalie Madeira Cofield

Good Services Lab Fellow

Natalie Madeira Cofield is a nationally recognized executive leader, entrepreneur, and policy strategist whose career spans the highest levels of government, philanthropy, academia, and the small business innovation ecosystem. She currently serves as President & CEO of the Association for Enterprise Opportunity (AEO), the nation’s leading organization dedicated to expanding economic opportunity for small businesses through research, policy, and ecosystem development.

Cofield previously served as an Assistant Administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration, where she led the Office of Women’s Business Ownership through the largest expansion in its history. A respected voice in economic policy and innovation, Cofield is a Forbes contributor whose writing examines the intersection of small business, federal policy, economic trends, and the evolving needs of entrepreneurs. Cofield is also the founder of NMC Advisory, a strategic consulting practice. She serves on prominent boards, including Harbor Bank, and has been widely recognized for her leadership by Entrepreneur Magazine, Black Enterprise, and the Washington Business Journal, among others.

Cofield holds a Master of Science in education from the University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Public Administration from the Baruch School of Public Affairs, where she was selected as a National Urban Fellow. She is an Honorary Doctorate recipient of Shaw University and earned the Certificate of Management Excellence from Harvard Business School. Cofield is an alumna of Howard University, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in business. Her lifelong commitment to economic mobility, innovation, and public service continues to shape national conversations on building more vibrant, competitive, and inclusive economies.

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